Wires downed by a branch or possibly the explosion of an electrical transformer Sunday morning tied up traffic on West Shore Road and Main Avenue according to a witness and police reports.

A Villa Avenue resident said the normally quiet street was transformed into a thoroughfare as motorists traveling west on West Shore Road shortly after 11 a.m. sought to navigate around the Apponaug underpass by cutting over to Main Avenue. Traffic traveling the opposite direction likewise looked to Main Avenue as a detour. The result was a knot of motorists on Main Avenue who voiced their frustration on social media.

There are two versions of the cause of the West Shore Road closure. A Rhode Island Energy spokeswoman reported a crew responded to West Shore Road at about 11:15 a.m. where a branch “had come down on our wires and burned through them.” She said the incident caused 2,671 customers to lose power. Of that total 2,350 had power restored in about 30 minutes. The balance had power restored after 4 p.m.

Reading from police reports, Major Joel Thomas, operations manager, said police interviewed a man who was walking in the area. He related seeing sparks above the trees and heard a bang. From the description, Thomas believes a transformer had caught fire. He said the Fire Department responded to the scene to extinguish a brush fire. He estimated wiring on three utility poles stretching 300 feet was impacted.

A resident living as far away as Drum Rock Avenue on the opposite side of Apponaug Village said she heard an explosion that was followed by the flickering of her lights.

Reports that Amtrak service was interrupted as a precautionary measure could not be substantiated.

Thomas said police rerouted traffic and were on scene until after 1 p.m.